Australian Minister To Visit Jakarta To Mend Ties After Spy Row

JAKARTA, Indonesia—Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop will visit Jakarta Thursday following a recent row over spying allegations that have threatened the relationship and downgraded bilateral ties to their lowest point in 14 years.

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Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop speaks during a news conference with Secretary of State John Kerry at the State Department, on Nov. 20 in Washington, DC.

Ms. Bishop will lead a delegation to Jakarta “for broad-ranging discussions about the bilateral relationship,” the Australian Foreign Minister’s office said in a press release Wednesday. The trip is widely viewed as a chance for Australia to mend ties strained in late November by media reports that Canberra allegedly tapped the phones of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife and several top-level officials in 2009.

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Australia’s government has refused to discuss its intelligence operations, even after Indonesia suspended military cooperation, which includes counter-terrorism, and froze people-smuggling operations aimed at halting a recent surge in asylum seekers arriving by boat to Australia, mostly via Indonesian ports. After a week-long standoff, President Yudhoyono said last week that the two neighbors have agreed to discuss the future of their bilateral cooperation and draft a code of conduct on intelligence sharing.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has proposed forming a security round table to help restore trust with Indonesia.

“I think the ball is now in the Australian court,” Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marty Natalegawa told reporters in Jakarta Wednesday. “We are waiting for their explanation on what has happened and what their attitude about the case is.”

Relations between two countries have had their ups and downs over the years. They reached a low point in 1999 After Australia led international troops into East Timor to end bloodshed following the former Indonesian province’s vote for independence.

The Australian Foreign Minister’s office didn’t give further details on Ms. Bishop agenda during her one-day visit in Jakarta.

From Indonesia she will head to Beijing and then the Philippines to assess the devastation wrought by the Typhoon Haiyan. Australia has committed $30 million toward disaster recovery efforts there, ministry said.

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